[12/01/05 - 12:00 AM]NBC Adjusts Mid-Season Program Lineup with New Series Launches and Return to Thursday-Night Comedy Block Beginning Week of January 2

[via press release from NBC]

NBC ADJUSTS MID-SEASON PROGRAM LINEUP WITH NEW SERIES LAUNCHES AND RETURN TO THURSDAY-NIGHT COMEDY BLOCK BEGINNING WEEK OF JANUARY 2

NBC ADJUSTS MID-SEASON PROGRAM LINEUP WITH NEW SERIES LAUNCHES AND RETURN TO THURSDAY-NIGHT COMEDY BLOCK BEGINNING WEEK OF JANUARY 2

"My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" Move to Thursdays to Join New Two-hour Comedy Block That Includes New Comedy "Four Kings" and "Will & Grace" While Drama "The Book of Daniel" Joins Schedule as New Series

"Scrubs" Returns with Weekly Back-to-Back New Episodes on Tuesdays (9-10 p.m. ET), "The Biggest Loser" Comes Back with Series of Themed Specials Titled "The Biggest Loser: Special Edition" and "Most Outrageous TV Moments" Becomes Weekly Series

BURBANK - December 1, 2005 - NBC adjusts its mid-season program lineup beginning the week of January 2 as the hit freshman comedy "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" move to Thursdays to join a new two-hour comedy block that includes the new comedy "Four Kings" and "Will & Grace." In addition, the new limited drama series "The Book of Daniel" will premiere, "Scrubs" will return to Tuesdays and the "The Biggest Loser" will come back as a series of themed specials titled "The Biggest Loser: Special Edition."

Thursday nights will return to NBC's storied comedy roots starting on January 5 with an 8-10 p.m. (ET) block that includes "Will & Grace," "Four Kings," "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office."

"The Book of Daniel," which begins with back-to-back episodes on Friday, Jan. 6 (9-11 p.m. ET), will be featured as a limited series that will run until Friday, Feb. 3 - the week prior to the start of NBC's exclusive coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics on Friday, Feb. 10. "Most Outrageous TV Moments" will now become a series starting on Friday, Jan. 6 (8-9 p.m. ET).

NBC's "The Apprentice" and "Joey" will return following the Winter Olympics (additional details about NBC's post-Olympic program schedule will be revealed during the network's January Press Tour).

The announcements were made today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.

"These mid-season adjustments allow us to showcase the season's top-rated new comedy in 'Earl' as well as the increasingly popular 'The Office' on Thursdays along with the new 'Four Kings' while we also introduce a great new drama series in 'Book of Daniel' on Fridays" said Reilly. "In so doing, we have the pieces in place to fulfill one of our goals -- to bring back a block of quality comedy to Thursday nights."

"Four Kings" and "The Book of Daniel" were previously announced as mid-season series at NBC's May Upfront. "Four Kings" will premiere on Thursday, Jan. 5 (8:30-9 p.m. ET).

After "The Book of Daniel" debuts with its back-to-back episodes on Friday, Jan. 6 (9-11 p.m. ET), it returns the following week (January 13) in its regular time from 10-11 p.m. (ET). "Dateline NBC" will then return in its new Friday time (9-10 p.m. ET) on January 13. "Most Outrageous TV Moments" -- originally a series of NBC specials -- will begin its weekly run as a series on Friday, Jan. 6 (8-9 p.m. ET).

Fresh off its record-setting season finale on November 29, "The Biggest Loser" will now return as a series of self-contained and themed specials in "The Biggest Loser: Special Edition," beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 4 (9-10 p.m. ET). The series will then run for five more weeks prior to the start of NBC's exclusive coverage of the Winter Olympics on February 10.

No changes will be made on NBC's Monday, Saturday or Sunday nights.

NBC's new mid-season schedule, which begins January 2, follows (all times ET); new series are in upper case (except "ER"):

The comedy "Four Kings" - from Emmy Award winners David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, creators of NBC's Emmy-winning comedy "Will & Grace" - is an exploration of four lifelong friends on the cusp of adulthood.

Barry (Seth Green "Austin Powers" franchise, "Italian Job"), Bobby (Shane McRae, "One Life to Live"), Ben (Josh Cooke, NBC's "Committed") and Jason (Todd Grinnell, "The Dangling Conversation") couldn't imagine life without one another. Since childhood, these bosom buddies haven't spent so much as a birthday apart, but when Ben's grandmother, who dubbed them the "Four Kings of New York," passes away, Ben (and essentially his close friends) inherits her apartment. But despite the comfort of their posh new surroundings and efforts to cling to their youth, adulthood begins drawing these Four Kings knee-deep into situations that aren't always easy to escape in this honest exploration of life-term friendship. KoMut Entertainment produces "Four Kings" in association with Warner Bros. Television. Kohan and Mutchnick are the creators and executive producers.

"The Book of Daniel" is a provocative, edgy and compelling new drama starring Emmy nominee Aidan Quinn ("An Early Frost") as Reverend Daniel Webster, an unconventional Episcopalian minister who not only believes in Jesus - he actually sees him and discusses life with him. Webster is challenged on many levels as he struggles to be a good husband, father and minister, while trying to control a nagging addiction to prescription painkillers, and an often rocky relationship with the church hierarchy, led by Bishop Beatrice Congreve (Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"), and Roger Paxton, a senior warden of the parish and stalwart churchgoer (Dylan Baker, "Kinsey").

The reverend also has loving, but challenging relationships with his three children: Peter (Christian Campbell, "Trick"), his 23-year-old gay son; Grace (Alison Pill, "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen"), his 16-year-old daughter who doesn't try to push her father's buttons but succeeds at it nonetheless; and Adam (Ivan Shaw, "All My Children"), his 16-year-old adopted Chinese son, a handsome and cocky high school jock. Keeping Webster grounded is his strong and loving wife Judith (Susanna Thompson, "Now and Again") -- who is fighting her own fondness for mid-day martinis -- as well as Jesus (Garret Dillahunt, "Deadwood"), whose frequent chats with Daniel remind him of his strengths and weaknesses.

Creator Jack Kenny ("Titus") and Flody Suarez ("8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter," "The Tick") are the executive producers of this production from NBC Universal Television Studio and Sony Pictures Television.

In "Most Outrageous TV Moments," audiences can enjoy hilarious clips and TV moments caught on tape. This series of 12 half-hour TV shows proves what can happen when the cameras keep rolling. The episodes will include outtakes from NBC's "Joey," "The Office," "Will & Grace," "Scrubs," "Las Vegas," "My Name Is Earl" and many more popular programs. "Most Outrageous TV Moments" is a follow-up to "The Most Outrageous Live TV Moments" and also "The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments." Scott Satin ("Meet My Folks" and "Who Wants to Marry My Dad") is the creator and executive producer. "Most Outrageous TV Moments" is produced by the NBC Universal Television Studio and Satin Productions.

"Most Outrageous TV Moments" has aired as four Saturday specials so far this season and delivered some of NBC's strongest results of the Fall in the Saturday 8-8:30 and 8-9 p.m. (ET) slots. Those four specials have averaged a 1.6 rating, 5 share among adults 18-49 and 5.2 million viewers overall. Last season, NBC carried eight telecasts of "Most Outrageous TV Moments" on its Tuesday schedule, generating a 1.9/5 in 18-49 and 5.8 million viewers overall.

Through the first 10 weeks of the 2005-06 television season, "My Name Is Earl" has averaged a 5.5 rating, 13 share among adults 18-49 and 12.5 million viewers overall, making it the season's #1 comedy, #1 Tuesday series (tied with NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") and #1 first-year series in 18-49.

"The Office" has averaged a 3.9 rating, 9 share in adults 18-49 and 7.9 million viewers overall through November 20, for a 56 percent increase over the show's 2.5 average in 18-49 last season. Its retention of the time period's lead-in from "My Name Is Earl" has strengthened over the season, with a 76 percent result on November 22 standing as the show's strongest retention through the season's first 10 weeks. "The Office" is also one of the most upscale comedies on television, earning the #2 concentration among all half-hour comedies of homes with $100,000-plus incomes in its 18-49 audience, behind only NBC's "Will & Grace."

"Will & Grace" has averaged a 3.6 rating and a 9 share in adults 18-49 and 8.3 million viewers overall season to date. "Will & Grace" has built by an average of 24 percent on its 18-49 lead-in to keep NBC #2 in its competitive time period ahead of Fox' "The O.C.," WB's "Smallville," ABC's "Alias" and UPN's "Love, Inc." "Will & Grace" is primetime's most upscale half-hour comedy in the show's concentration of homes with $100,000-plus incomes in its 18-49 audience.

This season's second cycle of "The Biggest Loser" averaged a 4.2 rating and 11 share in adults 18-49 and 10.1 million viewers overall, culminating in a two-hour finale on November 29 that set new series records of a 6.7/16 in 18-49 and 16.0 million viewers overall. Those finale results were NBC's highest non-Olympic numbers in the time period since November 27, 2001.

"Scrubs" is produced by Touchstone Television. Bill Lawrence ("Spin City") is the executive producer and creator.

Emmy winners David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are the creators and executive producers of "Will & Grace." Gary Janetti, Tracy Poust, Jon Kinnally, and Tim Kaiser serve as executive producers and showrunners. Multi-Emmy winner James Burrows (NBC's "Frasier," "Friends") is director and executive producer. "Will & Grace" is a production of KoMut Entertainment in association with NBC Universal Studios and Three Sisters Entertainment.

Created and written by Greg Garcia ("Yes, Dear), "My Name Is Earl" is executive-produced by Garcia and Marc Buckland ("Medical Investigation," "Ed"). The series is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television.

"The Office" is from Reveille and NBC Universal Television Studio and is executive-produced by Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Howard Klein.